I took over 200 photographs of SY's gear before soundcheck at the Fillmore in San Francisco on July 14, 2006, and have incorporated the majority of them into the site. Be warned -- they're huge, but detail freaks will be delighted. All the pictures open in the frame, so I suggest right clicking and opening in a new window if you want them to resize to fit your screen. Apologies for the occasional blurriness...
I'm really thrilled to be able to provide these pix, and I'd greatly appreciate if they weren't reproduced elsewhere. I've added some comments where necessary... if you have any comments, send me an e-mail! Enjoy!
FENDER JAZZMASTER (SUNBURST) -- Thurston is still using this for F#F#F#F#EB.
New pics: ONE TWO THREE
FENDER JAZZMASTER (SUNBURST) -- This a '64 sunburst Fender Jazzmaster. Thurston's been using it for a while but I'd previously thought it was the same as the above guitar, which is just a Japanese standard Jazzmaster. It turns out that this guitar, which was used exclusively on "I Love You Golden Blue" for the past couple years, was actually tuned F#F#F#F#EB w/ the bottom 3 F#s in unison, and the 4th F# an octave above (rather than 2 pairs like the 'Kool Thing' etc tuning)). This guitar is NOW being used as the main guitar for about half the new set: Incinerate, Rapture?, Sleepin Around, Jams Run Free, Pink Steam, and Or. It is tuned to a new tuning: D D# A# D# G G // New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR
FENDER JAZZMASTER (BLUE) -- Thurston is still using this for GGDDD#D#. This guitar is probably Thurston's most abused -- the headstock has been glued back together among other visible surgery. New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT
FENDER JAZZMASTER (GOLD) -- Thurston is still using this for EG#EG#EG#. New pics: ONE TWO THREE
FENDER JAZZMASTER (SEAFOAM) -- Thurston is still using this for F#F#GGAA. New pics: ONE TWO THREE
NEW DRIFTER -- Thurston is still using this for, well, the only thing it does. New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR
FENDER TELECASTER DELUXE (FRUIT) -- Lee is now using this guitar for the classic 'Confusion' tuning EADECD (for Shaking Hell and World Looks Red). New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE
FENDER TELECASTER DELUXE (SUNBURST) -- Lee is now using this guitar for EBEEAB. New pics: ONE TWO THREE
FENDER JAZZMASTER (CORAL) -- Lee is still using this for CGDCGD. It's featured a lot on the new record: Reena, Waste, Lights Out, The Neutral. New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVEN EIGHT NINE TEN
FENDER JAZZMASTER (CREAM) -- Lee is using this for DDDDAA now. New pics: ONE TWO THREE
FENDER JAZZMASTER (GREEN) -- Lee is still using this for GGDDxx (D#/F/G on top depending on the song). New pics: ONE TWO
FENDER JAZZMASTER (MAGENTA) -- Jim was using this when he first joined the band -- back then it had a Strat neck on it. Now it's been converted to a Jazzblaster and is used for F#F#GGAA. New pics: ONE TWO THREE
GIBSON LES PAUL -- This was previously Thurston's main guitar on the NYC Ghosts & Flowers tour. Lee appears to have taken it over for the new 'Rather Ripped' material tuning, which began as D D# A# D# G G but ended up, for Lee, as D#D#A#D#GG. He uses this on a lot of the new set: Incinerate, Rapture?, Sleepin, & Pink Steam. For 'Sleepin Around' he retunes to D D# A# D# G C // New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR
CUSTOM F-HOLE JAZZBLASTER (RED) -- Lee is still using this guitar for GGDGGA. I'm not sure if he retunes to GGDAGA for Sunday -- he may have comprised like Thurston. This is used for 'Turquoise Boy'. New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE
CUSTOM F-HOLE JAZZBLASTER (SUNBURST) -- This was a replacement for the Red F-hole Jazzblaster in GGDGGA on the Nurse tour, but Lee is now using it for "Incinerate" (as of San Francisco). He prefers it to the Les Paul for that song because it has a whammy bar. Same tuning: D#D#A#D#GG // New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR
DEMEL 12-STRING -- This is the guitar from the Corporate Ghost DVD X-Ray cover. It has some active onboard electronics/effects. Lee uses it for EG#EG#EG#. New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX
FENDER XII -- Lee is still using this for EG#EG#EG#, but the Demel seems to have taken its place. New pics: ONE TWO THREE
FENDER SUBSONIC -- Lee is still using this for EEBEBB. New pics: ONE TWO THREE
FENDER SUBSONIC -- Another SubSonic, Lee might be using this for EEBEBB, or possibly F#F#GGAA. New pics: ONE TWO
TRAVIS BEAN (YELLOW) -- Lee is still using this for F#F#F#F#EB. New pics: ONE TWO THREE
FERNANDES STRAT -- Lee is still using this for AAEEAA. New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR
EPIPHONE CASINO -- Lee's previous Casino broke, so this is a replacement. It was in the process of being strung when I photographed it. This guitar is also in F#F#AAEE, for Shadow of a Doubt. New pics: ONE TWO
MARTIN ACOUSTIC -- I don't have a pic of this yet, but Lee uses a Martin acoustic tuned to D#D#A#D#GG for "Or".
ETERNA -- Kim is still using this for DADABB. She uses it on 'Rats' w/ a capo on the 1st fret, and makes a beautiful racket w/ a slide. New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE
FENDER JAGUAR (RED) -- Kim was using this for Mariah/etc on the last tour, she now uses it in standard tuning (!) on "Shaking Hell". New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR
GIBSON LES PAUL JUNIOR -- Kim is still using this for GGDDD#D#. New pics: ONE TWO THREE
FENDER TELECASTER DELUXE -- This is Lee's guitar but Mark plays it on "Rats" while Thurston plays bass, in the same tuning as Lee (D#A#D#BC#F#). New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE
...and that's it. Here are some miscellaneous shots, the guitar necks might make for good wallpaper. Send me your comments! // Chris 08/13/06
LEE'S GTRS 1
Two more guitars have been recovered, see here or more specifically here for more details.
I've also added a trivial new feature, which I'd hoped would have more content upon launch. It's fairly self-explanatory: check it out...
Oh, and:
OKAY, if you're interested in what guitars SY have been using during 2005, I've prepared a graph detailing their gear on a song-by-song basis. It's available here. Enjoy!
UPDATE 7/15/04
OKAY, if you're interested in what guitars SY have been using during 2004, I've prepared a graph detailing their gear on a song-by-song basis. It's available here. Enjoy!
UPDATE 7/6/03
OKAY, if you're interested in what guitars SY have been using during 2003, I've prepared a graph detailing their gear on a song-by-song basis. It's available here. Enjoy!
UPDATE 2/11/03
Thought it was about time I revisited this site. Minor updates to the following:
hagstrom
Thanks to the following: nick, ben etkin, malcom, thomas cooper, oskar ekstrom, patrick sanders, lzdmn, matthew j reardon, patrick suddath, ricky sutton, henrik jakobsen, roberto mallo garcia, neale scott, jolan lisle-oakley, bastian stein, david rodriguez, ryan sprawlnc86, jean-nicolas raymond, george, skot, jdegreg102, dan jenkins, john lewiston, steve lynch, & leuan george.
UPDATE 9/5/02
This is the one you've been waiting for, folks. The North American Murray Street tour has ended, but not before I had the chance to photograph each and every guitar, effects pedal, amplifier, and organ in SY's touring arsenal prior to soundcheck on August 30th in Portland, Oregon. My eternal thanks to Sonic techs Nic Close and Eric Baecht, who were beyond accomodating and extremely helpful -- my only regret is that I didn't bring more film to capture all of the tiny things nobody ever sees like stageside tech notes, things scrawled on the undersides or headstocks of guitars, all of the broken effects pedals in suitcases offstage, etc etc -- but hopefully what I was able to photograph will satisfy the demands of those who visit this site.
Starting with guitars, the following pages have been updated:
LEE -- Custom F-Hole Blaster, Tele Deluxe 1, Tele Deluxe 3, Subsonic, Coral Jazzblaster, Green Jazzblaster, White Jazzblaster, Fernandes Strat, Wood Jag, Travis Bean, Univox, Epiphone.
THURSTON -- Gold Jazzmaster, Sunburst Jazzmaster, Red Jazzmaster, New Drifter. (I didn't photograph his blue, black, or seafoam Jazzmasters since I already had fairly good pictures of them and not much film...)
KIM -- Les Paul Junior, Eterna, Ibanez, P-bass, Gibson Bass.
JIM -- Gibson Bass, Bigsby Tele, Firebird, Stingray.
Now for the real fun... EFFECTS PEDALS! You can see full descriptions of their rigs by clicking each member's name at the top of the page and scrolling down to 2002 effects, but since some people apparently have a hard time finding that section (?!) I'll identify the new photographs here:
LEE -- Big Muff & Sparkle Drive, Digitech Delay, Tube Factor, Ibanez Delay, MXR Blue Box, Voodoo Lab Pedal Power, Line 6 Delay, Moogerfooger expression pedal & Ring Modulator
THURSTON -- Mutron Wah/Vol, E-H Big Muff, Turbo Rat, Octave Fuzz, MXR Phase 90 + Blue Box
KIM -- Wide shot of Delay, Moogerfooger, Micro Synth, Octave Fuzz, Wide shot of Turbo Rat, Hot Tubes, DI, Volume Pedal, Tuner, Boss Delay, AC, Moogerfooger Phaser w/ Expression Pedal, Micro Synthesizer & Hendrix Octave Fuzz, Turbo Rat & Hot Tubes, DI box, Ernie Ball volume pedal, and Boss tuner
JIM -- Moogerfooger Delay, Mutron Wah/Vol, Moogerfooger expression pedal, Boss Octave, ProCo Rat, Boss Equalizer, Maxon Overdrive, E-H Big Muff, E-H Small Stone, A/B box for bass/guitar amps, footswitches for amp A/B, Distortion, Reverb, Tremolo
...and if you're one of those people who finds something interesting about amps, well:
THURSTON -- Peavey Roadmaster heads w/ Marshall cab + rack illuminator
KIM -- Ampeg head & cab, Peavey Rockmaster head w/ Fender cabs
JIM -- Mesa/Boogie Mark III w/ cab, Acoustic head w/ 2 cabs & ETA Rack Illuminator
Alright, let's see, what else... wanna see Lee's organ? How about Lee and Jim's entire rack of guitars? (for those keeping score, Lee's sunburst tele was easily the heaviest of them all, if I recall...) How 'bout, uh... 4 guitars sitting around at the Amoeba Records in-store? Or.. um.. Nic Close trying to find a spare .036 string for Lee's F-Hole Blaster? ...Alright, I'm out. If anybody has a good picture of Lee's Univox from the first leg of the tour, I'd love to see it, otherwise that pretty much covers things for the Murray Street tour, folks!! Until next time...
UPDATE 6/28/02
uuuuuh just a few things. thurston has a new sun jazz i forgot to add...
green blaster
UPDATE 6/21/02
Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you...THE NEW DRIFTER!
UPDATE 6/14/02
Hi folks. Sorry about the lack of updates, I do still have a backlog of reader submitted info to add, but for now I offer some special info courtesy of a helpful sonic document from a former tech, primarily gauge info but a few new confirmed tunings + usages (see also tab site updates). Keep submitting info please, I'll add it soon... For now:
gold jazz
Hi everybody! You may have noticed that the Gear Guide has changed locations -- from now on it shall live right here at sonicyouth.com. Big thanks to everybody involved in making this move possible, and thanks to everybody who continues to support the site. It will now be located at: http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/eq/gear.html -- please update any links/bookmarks/etc.
Aside from the move, I've added a picture of Thurston's gold Jazzmaster here. More updates to come!
previous update 3/27/02:
pretty big update, folks... i've added notes for all guitars used @ all tomorrow's parties and updated a handful of other guitars thanks to info i received from folks who've checked out the site -- thank you all! please send me any info you think might help...
however, the most significant addition is a series of photographs i took at lee's performance in seattle on march 20th at a tiny theatre (he played w/ the climax golden twins, providing a soundscape underneath leah singer's films). the theatre was very tiny and i had the opportunity to take a slew of pictures of his gear before the show, which are all available on Lee's page. 2 in the amp section, and 16 in the effects section (under 2002). enjoy!
here's a list of guitars updated:
old jag (mystery solved??)
...reloads the full list of guitars/basses in left frame. note that some guitars are only viewable thru here -- they're not tied to a specific owner so this is where they show up. also, another note to anyone who's still reading, some guitars are shared between band members and while lee may have used it live and thurston may have used it in a video, i only count it as lee's guitar. if both have used it live, it shows up on both of their lists.
UPDATE 08/13/06
RATHER RIPPED GEAR REVEALED!GUITARS
THURSTON
FENDER JAZZMASTER (BLACK) -- Thurston is still using this for CGDGCD. It's used for about half of the new record: Reena, What a Waste, Turquoise Boy, Lights Out, and The Neutral. He's also using it for "Sunday" now instead of retuning to CGDGBB, since he doesn't actually use the high strings for that song. New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVE SIX SEVENLEE
FENDER TELECASTER DELUXE (F-HOLE) -- This guitar is finally back in Lee's arsenal after being stolen in '99 and subsequently recovered in fall 2005. The Travis Bean that was found along with this one will likely not return to the stage, however. They fixed the F-hole Tele enough to make it playable, and Lee uses it in a new tuning (D#A#D#BC#F#) on "Rats" and "Jams Run Free". New pics: ONE TWO THREE FOUR FIVEKIM
GIBSON EB-0 BASS -- This is still Kim's main bass. She's only playing bass on songs that she doesn't sing (or play guitar on) -- for Reena, Waste, Jams, and Neutral, Mark plays bass and Kim sings/dances. She picks the bass up for parts of Turquoise Boy, when she's not singing. For old material that Thurston sings, she and Mark both play bass. New pics: ONE TWOMARK
FENDER PRECISION BASS -- I'm not sure if this is Mark's or if he found it in SY's stash, but it's his primary bass for the 2006 tour. Thurston plays it on "Rats" and "Shaking Hell". New pics: ONEAMPS
THURSTON
Thurston is using the following amp setup:LEE
Lee is using the following amp setup:KIM
Kim is using the following amp setup:MARK
Mark is using the following amp setup:EFFECTS
THURSTON
Thurston is using the following effects:LEE
Lee is using the following effects:KIM
Kim is using the following effects:MARK
Mark is using the following effects:STEVE
Here are 11 pictures of Steve's kit from a variety of angles, including his assortment of percussion (gongs, mallets, tambourine, etc). Also, take note of the device on his drum stool - the "Thumper" -- which thumps his seat everytime he hits the kick drum.
LEE'S GTRS 2
LEE'S GTRS 3
LEE'S GTRS 4
THURSTON AND KIM'S GTRS
EMPTY FILLMORE
UPDATE 10/22/05
sugar kane gtr
superstar gtr
black jazz
new drifter
univox
epiphone casino
duo sonic
red jazz
epiphone genesis
black stang
g&l tele
SG
travis bean
dearmond
ibanez talman
silvertone
firebird
hollywood hollowbody
musicmaster/mustang
ovation magnum I
gibson EB-0
gibson EB-2
peace jr
subsonic
firebird
red jazz T
goo gtr silver
sun jazz
yellow trav
tele F#GA
white kent
kimberly
univox
new drift
sun jazz
white jazz
red jazz
GABDEG tele
blue jazz
drifter
red jag
duo
expwy tele
eterna
sun p-bass
tbird
snoopy
lp deluxe
target trav
tree tele
fhole tele
fruit tele
fern strat
clover jag
leopard jag
gtr castle
SG
old jag
trav 2
sunny tele
bur. mist
wood jag (...or not?)
blue jazzmaster
seafoam jazzmaster
black jazzmaster
maroon les paul
gold jazzmaster (new guitar)
tele deluxe
travis bean
travis bean (koa)
f-hole jazzblaster
cream jazzmaster (new picture!)
orange jazzmaster
green strat
green jazzblaster
eterna
ibanez
snoopy 2 les paul
les paul junior
firebird
tele deluxe
ibanez roadstar
fernandes jazz
fernandes vertigo
superstar acoustic
carson j robinson
hopf telster
red stang
favilla acoustic
kent 12
blue p-bass
ovation
keanu p-bass
